Heather and Mick have a long history together, and Heather wants to leave it in the past where it belongs. Yet, here Mick is, very much in her present, thanks to her brother Jeff, who hired Mick to be her boss at the Retreat at Rivers Bend.

It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town, country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West Virginia coal-mining roots.

Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?

Oh, if they weren’t in church, she would knock the annoying grin right off his face, and she hated the blush she could tell was spreading across her cheeks. Mick had managed to make her feel like an awkward seventeen-year-old girl again in under half an hour.

She tried to keep her voice calm and detached, even though her heart pounded in her chest. “I’ve got to get back to the Retreat before the other guests. I need to make sure everything is set for the party.”

Mick cocked his head, and he reminded her of her mother’s old hound dog when he was confused by his humans. He couldn’t possibly be baffled by her lack of warmth. Did he really think she’d welcome him to Rivers Bend with open arms?

“I guess I was too subtle there for you, Mick. You are blocking my way out of the pew and I need to get to the party before everyone else. Please move.”

He frowned, but he did step out of the pew to join the crush of people in the aisle.

“Stick close. I’ll get you out of here.”

He used his broad shoulders as a wedge to propel himself though the crowd. Heather scurried to keep up with him so she could take advantage of the gap he created, not wanting to be so close she could feel the warmth of his body through his elegant suit, but because she needed somehow to beat this crush of people to the Retreat to make sure everything was in place for the post-christening party she’d planned for Bethanne. Only perfection would do for her BFF.

She watched Mick’s back as she stuck close to him; he looked so strong and fit. It was hard to imagine him from ten years ago, when he’d suffered his NFL career-ending injury, but the same business acumen that kept him with the Portland Pintos organization back then was the reason Jeff and Cisco hired him at the Retreat.

He’d be good for business. She’d just have to keep chanting those words in her head like a mantra, or else she’d do one of two things she’d regret—kill Mick, or kiss him. She’d gone the kissing route with him before, and it did not end well. As tempting as the killing option was at the moment, it probably wouldn’t end any better.